The UK government is building a ‘toolbox’ of cyber weapons to use in the fight against potential cyberattacks on the country’s critical services and government departments, defence minister Nick Harvey has revealed.

According to the Guardian, Harvey considers cyber weapons to be an “integral part of the country’s armoury” and that “action in cyberspace will form part of the future battlefield” in a world where digital infrastructures are becoming increasingly widespread.

Harvey’s acknowledgment of a cyber weapons programme follows a number of high-profile attacks on government agencies and contractors worldwide.

“We need a toolbox of capabilities and that’s what we are currently developing,” Harvey told the Guardian. “The circumstances and manner in which we would use them are broadly analogous to what we would do in any other domain.”

He continued: “Cyber is a new domain but the rules and norms, the logic and the standards that operate in any other domain...translate across into cyberspace.

"The consequences of a well planned, well executed attack against our digital infrastructure could be catastrophic … With nuclear or biological weapons, the technical threshold is high. With cyber the finger hovering over the button could be anyone from a state to a student."

As part of last year’s Strategic Defence and Security Review, prime minister David Cameron confirmed that the government would allocate £650 million over a four-year period to fight against cyber attacks. The government also detailed cybercrime as a ‘tier one’ risk to Britain, alongside terrorism, international crises and natural hazards.

Comments

Carl BarronUK Government Admits Building Cyber-Weapons you say Dont make me laugh with the lack of understanding they have of IT this is no real threat to any other country except theirs Here is a link to proof Data which shows how the UK Governments lack of understanding as to Copyright Law coupled with their much hyped Digital Rights Act etc could have caused a collapse of the Global Economy httptwtmxRizaIn short fools in high places are very dangerous indeed as they know NOT what they doSigned Carl Barron Chairman of agpcuk2011-06-01T09:55:53Z

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